This invention relates generally to a method of aerosolized drug delivery. More specifically, this invention relates to the controlled intrapulmonary delivery of a monomeric insulin alone or in combination with other treatment methodologies which are combined to significantly reduce or eliminate the need for administering insulin by injection.
Diabetes Mellitus is a disease affecting approximately 7.5 million people in the United States. The underlying cause of this disease is diminished or absent insulin production by the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Of the 7.5 million diagnosed diabetics in the United States, approximately one-third are treated using insulin replacement therapy. Those patients receiving insulin typically self-administer one or more doses of the drug per day by subcutaneous injection. Insulin is a polypeptide with a nominal molecular weight of 6,000 Daltons. Insulin has traditionally been produced by processing pig and cow pancreas to allow isolation of the natural product. More recently, recombinant technology has made it possible to produce human insulin in vitro. It is the currently common practice in the United States to institute the use of recombinant human insulin in all of those patients beginning insulin therapy.
It is known that most proteins are rapidly degraded in the acidic environment of the GI tract. Since insulin is a protein which is readily degraded in the GI tract, those in need of the administration of insulin administer the drug by subcutaneous injection (SC). No satisfactory method of orally administering insulin has been developed. The lack of such an oral delivery formulation for insulin creates a problem in that the administration of drugs by injection can be both psychologically and physically painful.
In an effort to provide for a non-invasive means for administering insulin, and thereby eliminate the need for hypodermic syringes, aerosolized insulin formulations have been tested. Aerosolized insulin formulations have been shown to produce insulin blood levels in man when these aerosols are introduced onto nasal or pulmonary membrane. Moses et al. [Diabetes, Vol. 32, November 1983] demonstrated that a hypoglycemic response could be produced following nasal administration of 0.5 units/kg. Significant inter-subject variability was noted, and the nasal insulin formulation included unconjugated bile salts to promote nasal membrane penetration of the drug. Salzman et al. [New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 312, No. 17] demonstrated that an intranasal aerosolized insulin formulation containing a non-ionic detergent membrane penetration enhancer was effective in producing a hypoglycemic response in diabetic volunteers. Their work demonstrated that nasal irritation was present in varying degrees among the patients studied. In that diabetes is a chronic disease which must be continuously treated by the administration of insulin and in that mucosal irritation tends to increase with repeated exposures to the membrane penetration enhancers, efforts at developing a non-invasive means of administering insulin via nasal administration have not been commercialized.
In 1971, Wigley et al. [Diabetes, Vol 20, No. 8] demonstrated that a hypoglycemic response could be observed in patients inhaling an aqueous formulation of insulin into the lung. Radio-immuno assay techniques demonstrated that approximately 10 percent of the inhaled insulin was recovered in the blood of the subjects. Because the surface area of membranes available to absorb insulin is much greater in the lung than in the nose, no membrane penetration enhancers are required for delivery of insulin to the lungs by inhalation. The inefficiency of delivery seen by Wigley was greatly improved in 1979 by Yoshida et al. [Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vol. 68, No. 5] who showed that almost 40 percent of insulin delivered directly into the trachea of rabbits was absorbed into the bloodstream via the respiratory tract. Both Wigley and Yoshida showed that insulin delivered by inhalation could be seen in the bloodstream for two or more hours following inhalation.
Aerosolized insulin therefore can be effectively given if the aerosol is appropriately delivered into the lung. In a review article, Dieter Kohler [Lung, supplement pp. 677-684] remarked in 1990 that multiple studies have shown that aerosolized insulin can be delivered into and absorbed from the lung with an expected absorption half-life of 15-25 minutes. However, he comments that xe2x80x9cthe poor reproducibility of the inhaled dose [of insulin] was always the reason for terminating these experiments.xe2x80x9d This is an important point in that the lack of precise reproducibility with respect to the administration of insulin is critical. The problems associated with the inefficient administration of insulin cannot be compensated for by administering excess amounts of the drug in that the accidental administration of too much insulin could be fatal.
Effective use of an appropriate nebulizer can achieve high efficiency in delivering insulin to human subjects. Laube et al. [Journal of Aerosol Medicine, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1991] have shown that aerosolized insulin delivered from a jet nebulizer with a mass median aerodynamic diameter of 1.12 microns, inhaled via a holding chamber at a slow inspiratory flow rate of 17 liters/minute, produced an effective hypoglycemic response in test subjects at a dose of 0.2 units/kg. Colthorpe et al. [Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 9, No. 6, 1992] have shown that aerosolized insulin given peripherally into the lung of rabbits produces a blood concentration versus time profile of over 50 percent in contrast to 5.6 percent blood concentration versus time profile seen for liquid insulin dripped onto the central airways. Colthorpe""s work supports the contention that aerosolized insulin must be delivered peripherally into the lung for maximum efficiency and that inadvertent central deposition of inhaled aerosolized insulin will produce an effect ten times lower than that desired. Variations in dosing of 10-fold are clearly unacceptable with respect to the administration of most drugs, and in particular, with respect to the administration of insulin.
The present invention endeavors to provide a non-invasive methodology for enhancing treatment of diabetic patients via aerosolized delivery.
Aerosolized delivery of insulin is disclosed wherein the insulin is monomeric insulin. Aerosolized delivery of monomeric insulin is significantly less affected by an inhaling patient""s breathing pattern as compared to the effect on conventional recombinant insulin. More specifically, the maximum insulin concentration (CMAX) and the time needed to obtain the maximum concentration (TMAX) is much less affected by the amount of air inhaled after delivery of aerosolized drug. Accordingly, a higher degree of repeatability of dosing can be obtained (with monomeric insulin as compared to regular insulin) making it substantially more practical for patients to control glucose levels by inhaling insulin-thereby making diabetics less dependent on injecting insulin.
When delivering aerosolized insulin the patient can be coached (by teaching and/or by the device which measures flow rate and/or volume) to inhale at a given rate and to inhale a given amount of air (before and after the aerosol is released). One of the findings disclosed here is that the inhaled volume at delivery does not substantially affect the blood concentration versus time profile for the aerosolized delivery of monomeric insulin. However, the inhaled volume at delivery does substantially affect the blood concentration versus time profile of regular insulin. Accordingly, one aspect of the invention is the aerosolized delivery of monomeric insulin without regard to respiratory maneuver parameters such as inhaled volume. A second aspect of the invention is aerosolized delivery of insulin which is not monomeric insulin while measuring inhaled volume and insuring that the inhaled volume is (1) repeated for each dose in the same amount and (2) preferably a large inhaled volume, e.g. 80% or more of the lung capacity of the patient. It should be noted that to obtain the most repeatable results that monomeric insulin should be delivered each time at substantially the same inspiratory flow rate and inspiratory volume at delivery and such delivery should be followed by the same inhaled volume which is preferably a maximum inhaled volume.
The monomeric insulin formulation may be in any form, e.g., a dry powder, or dispersed or dissolved in a low boiling point propellant. However, the formulation is more preferably an aqueous solution having a pH close to 7.4xc2x11.0 which can be aerosolized into particles having a particle diameter in the range of about 1.0 to about 4.0 microns. Formulations of monomeric insulin are preferably aerosolized and administered via hand-held, self-contained devices which are automatically actuated at the same release point in a patient""s inspiratory flow cycle. The release point is automatically determined either mechanically or, more preferably calculated by a microprocessor which receives data from a sensor making it possible to determine inspiratory flow rate and inspiratory volume. The device can measure parameters including inspiratory flow rates and volumes and provide information to the patient which can aid in controlling the patient""s respiratory maneuvers. Preferably the device is loaded with a cassette comprised of an outer housing which holds a package of individual disposable collapsible containers of a monomeric insulin analog containing formulation for systemic delivery. Actuation of the device forces the monomeric insulin formulation through a porous membrane of the container which membrane has pores having a diameter in the range of about 0.25 to 3.0 microns, preferably 0.25 to 1.5 microns. The porous membrane is positioned in alignment with a surface of a channel through which a patient inhales air.
The dose of insulin analog to be delivered to the patient varies with a number of factorsxe2x80x94most importantly the patient""s blood glucose level. Thus, the device can deliver all or any proportional amount of the formulation present in the container. If only part of the contents are aerosolized the remainder may be discarded. By delivering any proportional amount of a container the patient can adjust the dose to any desired level while using containers which all contain the same amount of monomeric insulin.
Smaller particle sizes are preferred to obtain systemic delivery of insulin analog. Thus, in one embodiment, after the aerosolized mist is released into the channel the air surrounding the particles may be heated in an amount sufficient to evaporate carrier and thereby reduce particle size. The air drawn into the device can be actively heated by moving the air through a heating element which element is pre-heated prior to the beginning of a patient""s inhalation. The amount of energy added can be adjusted depending on factors such as the desired particle size, the amount of the carrier to be evaporated, the water vapor content of the surrounding air and the composition of the carrier (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,385 issued Jun. 4, 1996).
To obtain systemic delivery it is desirable to get the aerosolized formulation deeply into the lung. This is obtained, in part, by adjusting particle sizes. Particle diameter size is generally about one to three times the diameter of the pore from which the particle is extruded. In that it is technically difficult to make pores of 1.0 microns or less in diameter the use of evaporation can reduce particle size to 3.0 microns or less even with pore sizes well above 1 micron. Energy may be added in an amount sufficient to evaporate all or substantially all carrier and thereby provide particles of dry powdered insulin or highly concentrated insulin formulation to a patient which particles are uniform in size regardless of the surrounding humidity and smaller due to the evaporation of the carrier.
In addition to adjusting particle size, systemic delivery of insulin is obtained by releasing an aerosolized dose at a desired point in a patient""s respiratory cycle. When providing systemic delivery it is important that the delivery be reproducible.
Reproducible dosing of insulin to the patient is obtained by: (1) using monomeric to insulin which has been shown here to be less affected by the patient""s respiratory pattern, and/or; (2)providing for automatic release of formulation in response to a determined inspiratory flow rate and measured inspiratory volume. The automatic release method involves measuring for, determining and/or calculating a firing point or drug release decision based on instantaneously (or real time) calculated, measured and/or determined inspiratory flow rate and inspiratory volume points. To obtain repeatability in dosing, the formulation is repeatedly released at the same measured (1) inspiratory flow rate and (2) inspiratory volume. To maximize the efficiency of delivery aerosols are released at (3) a measured inspiratory flow rate in the range of from about 0.1 to about 2.0 liters/second and (2) a measured inspiratory volume in the range of about 0.1 to about 1.5 liters. After the aerosol is released the patient preferably continues inhaling to a maximum inhalation point.
A primary object of the invention is to provide for a method of increasing the repeatability at which glucose levels can be controlled by aerosol delivery of monomeric insulin.
An advantage of the invention is that the aerosolized delivery of monomeric insulin is substantially less affected by a patient""s breathing maneuvers during delivery as compared to regular insulin and specifically is less affected by how much the patient inhales after aerosolized delivery.
A feature of the invention is the commercially available insulin lispro can be used in the method.
Another object is to provide a method of administering a monomeric insulin analog formulation to a patient wherein the formulation is repeatedly delivered to a patient at the same measured inspiratory flow rate (in the range of 0.1 to 2.0 liters/second) and separately determined inspiratory volume (beginning delivery in the range of 0.15 to 1.5 liters and continuing inspiration to maximum, e.g., 4-5 liters).
Another object of the invention is to combine delivery therapies for inhaling monomeric insulin with monitoring technologies so as to maintain tight control over the serum glucose level of a patient suffering from diabetes mellitus.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device which allows for the intrapulmonary delivery of controlled amounts of monomeric insulin formulation based on the particular needs of the diabetic patient including serum glucose levels and insulin sensitivity.
Another object of the invention is to provide a means for treating diabetes mellitus which involves supplementing monomeric insulin administration using an intrapulmonary delivery means in combination with injections of insulin and/or oral hypoglycemic agents such as sulfonylureas.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the methodology allows the administration of a range of different size doses of monomeric insulin by a convenient and painless route, thus decreasing the probability of insulin overdosing and increasing the probability of safely maintaining desired serum glucose levels.
Another feature of the device of the present invention is that it may be programmed to provide variable dosing (from the same size container) so that different doses are delivered to the patient at different times of the day coordinated with meals and/or other factors important to maintain proper serum glucose levels with the particular patient.
Another feature of the invention is that the portable, hand-held inhalation device of the invention can be used in combination with a portable device for measuring serum glucose levels in order to closely monitor and titrate dosing based on actual glucose levels.
Yet another feature of the invention is that the microprocessor of the delivery device can be programmed to prevent overdosing by preventing formulation release more than a given number of times within a given period of time.
Another object of the invention is to adjust particle size by heating air surrounding the particles in an amount sufficient to evaporate carrier and reduce total particle size.
Another object is to provide a drug delivery device which includes a desiccator for drying air in a manner so as to remove water vapor and thereby provide consistent particle sizes even when the surrounding humidity varies.
Another object is to provide a device for the delivery of aerosols which measures humidity via a solid state hygrometer.
A feature of the invention is that drug can be dispersed or dissolved in a liquid carrier such as water and dispersed to a patient as dry or substantially dry particles of monomeric insulin.
Another advantage is that the size of the particles delivered will be relatively independent of the surrounding humidity.
It is an object of this invention to demonstrate a novel application for Humalog(trademark) as a monomeric insulin analog well suited for pulmonary drug delivery.
It is an object of this invention to demonstrate that Humalog(trademark) provides unique benefits when delivered via the lung by reducing the degree to which lung sequestration occurs following aerosolized delivery.
It is an object of this invention to demonstrate that aerosolized delivery of Humalog(trademark) in place of conventional formulations of recombinant human insulin makes a repeatable blood concentration versus time profile substantially less dependent on the patients final inhaled volume at delivery.
It is an object of this invention to demonstrate that by increasing the blood concentration versus time profile of the delivered monomeric insulin such as Humalog(trademark) (regardless of breathing maneuver after delivery) that a more reproducible and consistent effect on serum blood glucose can be achieved.
It is another object of this invention to demonstrate that the increased reproducibility seen after the delivery of Humalog(trademark) via aerosolization into the lung results in a more economical approach to the pulmonary drug delivery of insulin than offered by the delivery of regular recombinant human insulin to the lung via aerosolization.
These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent to those persons skilled in the art upon reading the details of the structure of the device, formulation of compositions and methods of use, as more fully set forth below.